Show Time
by whaticantcontrol
Summary: Nicks niece has a dressage show, he calls in sick and goes to the show. Little does he know he'll have to call his team on a 419, and apologize to Grissom.
1. Collected Canter

Disclaimer: i do not own CSI or the characters :(  
note: i made this story up 100% by myself.. it doesn't have anything to do with any past episodes except the characters (and Grissom and Sara being married). the first chapter doesn't have all the CSI's in it because i wanted to lay the foundation, ya know? ;) Gil never left, Warrick never died.

Jassie's (JAY-SEE) thoughts are in italic by the way. She's a 16 y/o girl. Charles is her horse.

* * *

_I hate getting car sick. _Jassie thought as her dad pulled around the corner onto the grass and parked behind their new Exodus horse trailer. She stepped out of the car, shut the door lightly, and took a deep breath.

"You okay?" Roger stepped around the car and stood in front of her.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine. Just a little nervous. Help me open the windows so Charles can get a little fresh air in there?" Jassie stepped over the puddle near her feet and went to unlatch the windows of the horse trailer.

Jassie called her father Roger while at home, but never to his face. She lived with her mother after her parents got divorced. Never fully forgiving her mother for divorcing her father, she gets through it by spending days at her friends' houses and nights in her bedroom with the door shut. Her mom's new boyfriend just moved in and she hated being around him.

"Good boy," Jassie crooned to Charles, gently rubbing his soft chestnut fur on his neck. She loved her horse. Whenever things were bad at her house, if she didn't feel good, or even if she had to get away for a few hours she would walk to the barn to ride her horse. Although it was a 3 mile walk, and about a 25 minute run, she liked the alone time.

A man spotted Jassie talking to her horse and walked over.

"Nick! You made it!" Jassie went over to Nick and gave him a hug. Nick was Roger's brother and supported Jassie by coming to almost all of her Dressage shows.

"Of course I did, I wouldn't miss it even for work! I called in sick by the way so if I get caught…" Jassie laughed and playfully elbowed him in his side.

"We wouldn't want your boss getting mad. What's his name, Bill or something?"

"Gil."

"Oh, yeah," Jassie laughed. "I knew it was something like that."

"Dad?" Jassie looked inside the trailer. He wasn't in the kitchen or on the bed sleeping. Even though the trailer had a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping quarters, which they could've relaxed in on the long drive up, Roger insisted the take the car to 'bond'. Hell, the trailer even had a microwave and dining room table.

"Be right out. You forgot to lock the cabinet door and the splint boots and wraps fell out," he called from the tack room.

"Oh, I'll get them. Come out here for a second."

Roger came out of the trailer, he saw Nick and a huge grin appeared on his face.

"Nick, bro! You came, after not getting a text or call or anything I suspected you weren't coming. How've you been?"

Jassie walked to the trailed, opened the back trailer hatch and untied Charles. The lead rope had fallen to the floor and was covered in hay and shavings.

Thanks Charles, she thought.

She snapped the lead on Charles and turned him around leading him out of the trailer. Jassie tied Charles' lead to the side of the trailer allowing enough slack so he could eat grass. Charles always got nervous while traveling long distances, and Jassie was use to cleaning up after it. The shavings were covered in urine and there had to be at least 5 small piles of manure.

Roger was still talking to Nick, but they were trying to figure out how to open the side of the trailer to release the awning.

"Dad, I have to clean up after Charles. Do you know where the wheel barrels are?"

"Over by where you register." He looked at Jassie then back to the awning.

Jassie followed his stare and went over to where Nick stood. She noticed a panel on the side of the trailer and walked over to it and noticed small grey letters that read 'push'.

"I need a soda." Roger was obviously annoyed and agitated by the awning. Turning away, he froze mid-step when he heard a faint noise. Jassie had opened the awning by pressing the 'open' button inside the panel on the trailer.

"How the hell…" he looked at Jassie then Nick and just grunted. Nick laughed and patted Jassie on the shoulder. "Did I bring any beer?" he joked and proceeded to walk to the cooler.

"Smooth, kid." Nick said and nudged Jassie. "Now go clean your horse's shit before your father puts me to work."

"Heh." Jassie said as she turned away and headed to the registry. There was a wooden door on the side of the building with pitchforks and wheel barrels inside. She took a wheel barrel and went back to the trailer to clean the manure.

"Hey dad…where do I dump this…"

"God, Jassie, you've been here a couple times. You don't remember where? Go to the end of the trailers and you'll see a ramp, go up it then turn left and dump it below into the pile."

There was a little attitude in Rogers answer and she decided it was best to just not answer. Or as he would call it 'back-talk'.

The ramp seemed steep for the purpose of emptying wheel barrels but she didn't care. Turning left, she dumped the manure into the already existing pile. Jassie was about to turn around when something caught her eye on the floor next to the manure pile.

_A ring? _

To get down near the manure pile meant she would have to jump down 6 feet then some how climb back up. It was worth the risk, she wasn't that short, and she was strong enough to hoist herself back up if she had to.

While jumping down she kept her eyes on the ring. She carefully walked around the manure careful not to step in it. She picked up the ring.

_It was…plastic. A shiny plastic… wow…okay._

Jassie turned around, put the ring in her pocket because why the hell not and was about to step back around the pile when she saw something at the bottom of the manure.

Jassie gasped. Her heart started racing and her pulse was going so fast she could feel it throughout her body.

Under all the manure… a finger was sticking out of the pile.

* * *

How'd i do? First fanfic i've ever written. it's been on my computer for a while but i never published it. It will get more interesting.. i promise :)  
Review pleaseee.

N/A if you don't know what dressage is you should google it or youtube it or you wont understand what Jassie does :D


	2. Leg Yield Right

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, but I am playing with the characters(:  
Note: Thoughts will be in italics.

* * *

"Brass, we've got a 419." Nick gave up on trying to sound sick.

"What? Where? In your house? I thought you were sick, where are you?" Now Brass was annoyed and Nick could hear it in his voice.

"Jassie's horse show, I texted you my address."

"What are you doing near a bunch of horses if you're sick?" Brass wanted a confession from Nick, he never hesitated to interrogate one of the CSI's when he got the chance.

"Brass, stop messing with me. You know how important she is to me, she's my only niece. I only called in sick because I'm saving my vacation days to visit my parents, who I've seen once in the past six months."

"Fill me in on the details." Brass jotted down notes as Nick recited what Jassie had told him.

"Did she touch anything?"

"No. Well, a ring." Nick spoke quickly. He wanted to get back to Jassie and Roger to see if they were okay.

"A ring?"

"Yes, she found it on the ground before finding the body. I already bagged it…I had my kit in the trunk."

"I'll tell Grissom and the team, officers will be out there shortly." Brass hung up.

Brass exited his office. As he headed to Grissom's office he observed the CSI's at work, he really did admire them for being so good at their jobs. Catherine was finger printing a 2011 BMW M3 engine when Brass walked by. She looked up when he whistled at the car, but went back to work when he didn't acknowledge her. Warrick was doing paperwork, and Greg had his face in the microscope.

_The kid finally gets to be in the field and somehow always finds his way back to the lab. _Brass sighed, but kept walking.

"Grissom, Nick has a " Grissom wasn't in his office.

_No sign of Grissom…no sign of Sara. _

Brass headed back down the hall and called out to Catherine.

"Catherine?" She looked up, "Have you seen Gil? Nick has a 419, I called it in but I can't find him or Sara."

"No, I " Her sentence was cut off.

"Brass, you were looking for me?" Grissom asked, he seemed to be out of breath, like he was just running. He had a twinkle in his eye and half of a grin on his face.

_Weird._

"Yes, Nick has a 419 at one of Jassie's horseshows, she found a body in a pile of shit. Let's go. Oh, by the way, where's Sara?"

"My office." Grissom replied quickly.

_Too quickly. _

"I thought Nick was home sick?" Grissom turned to look at Brass.

"Our Nicky was playing hooky to go to Jassie's show." Brass grinned.

The two men started off down the hall with Catherine, Greg and Warrick following a few steps behind.

Brass thought he would humor himself, "It's funny because I was just in your office."

"Oh…I.." Grissom stuttered.

"Hey guys!" Sara said excitingly coming out of the office, "What's up?"

_It's funny, she has the same twinkle in her eye. Doesn't take a CSI to know what's up._

"419, Jassie's horseshow. Lets go." Greg said, sounding happier than he should be about a 419. Jassie was like a niece to him and he loved her company.

* * *

"How long is it going to take to get the manure off of her?" Warrick asked.

"Shouldn't be too long, we have a couple officers headed over here now with shovels." Detective Vartann put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath.

"Smells." Vartann wrinkled his nose.

Warrick shrugged. "You get used to it. Can't be worse than a fully decomposed body, right?

Vartann gave Warrick a quick sideways glance and left the building to get fresh air. Grissom, Sara, and Greg passed him on his way out.

"Where'd Catherine go?" Greg looked behind him.

"She went to talk to Nick, Jassie, and Roger. Nick will be over here soon, he's just concerned about them. Jassie must be shaken up a bit." Greg nodded and offered a hand to help Sara reach the ladder to get down to the pile of manure.

"Ladies first." Greg smiled, Sara laughed, and Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"Gil, you and your posse owe me new shoes." Brass lifted his foot and showed his soles covered in horse manure.

* * *

Vartann found Catherine with Nick, Jassie, and Roger. To his surprise, Jassie was calm but Roger wasn't. His eyes seemed worried and wouldn't leave Jassie.

"Nick, Catherine and I will stay with Jassie and Roger, you should go help process the scene."

Nick nodded, picked up his kit and headed away from them. Super Dave and Doc Robbins just arrived, Nick joined them on their walk to the scene.

"So Jassie, what classes are you going to be in?" Catherine asked, all the while eyeing Roger and watching his reactions.

"First Level 1 and 2. The first class isn't for another…" Jassie checked the time on her phone, "Four hours though. We got here early so Charles can relax and get used to the place."

"Jassie, is it okay if I take a sample of your DNA and take your fingerprints? Its procedure." Catherine pulled a swab from her kit.

"Yeah, no problem."

* * *

The manure had finally been removed from on top of the body. Dave was brushing the remaining manure debris off. He looked her over, her skin was filthy from the manure. No sign of ligature or penetration marks or bruises. After taking the liver temperature he stood up and looked at Grissom.

"We won't know the cause of death until we get her back to the lab. No visible bruises or contusions on her body, but we'll know for sure soon enough."

"Warrick, can you do a perimeter?" Grissom noticed Nick standing beside Sara and Brass talking. He knew Nick was concerned about Jassie and wanted to keep him busy. "Nick, fingerprint the floor on the edge of the manure drop off. To get out of this you have to put your hands on the ledge to get out. Maybe you will find boot prints too. You're going to have to exclude ours and Jassie's as well." Nick nodded.

"How long has she been dead?" Grissom looked at the young girl. She couldn't be older than fifteen or sixteen, Jassie's age.

"According to her liver temperature, about five hours." Dave nodded to Sara, silently saying it was okay to touch or move the body.

"Thank you, David." Grissom knelt down near the body. He shined his flashlight on the girl's legs and feet. "She must have been going to ride today. She's dressed in breaches and riding boots. But no jacket." Mentally taking note her boots had been recently polished over the scuff on the heels and toes.

"I've got grey fibers in her hair." Sara pulled out her tweezers and slipped the fibers into an envelope.

"Okay David, you can get her out of here. I'll help you." Sara said.

"I'll meet you guys back outside." Brass left via the ladder he had brought to get in and out of the crime scene.

"Are we going to have to take all this manure back to the lab?" Greg was standing in front of the huge pile.

"No." Grissom looked at Greg.

"Good." Greg sounded relieved.

"But we will have to take back what was within a foot of her body. Brass had the officers make a separate pile for the manure that was around her." Grissom tilted his head to the pile to Greg's right.

"You can be the one to process it, if you want." Grissom offered with a smile. Greg groaned. Knowing his duty as a field CSI he wasn't going to pass up the offer just because it smelt horrible. He would do it, but gagged at the thought.

"Sara, would you like to join me?" Flashing his white smile which he hoped Sara wouldn't resist. She smiled and was about to answer when Grissom interrupted her.

"No, once we get the body out of here, she's going to join me back at the lab for the autopsy with Doc. Robbins and then go over every inch of the victims clothes with me so we don't miss anything."

Sara's smile disappeared and was replaced by a grin. "Maybe some other time, Greg."

Warrick was walking the perimeter of the scene looking for anything. No blood trail, no dust, no nothing. Only manure.

_Did the killer sweep?_

He notice a single broom bristle on the floor and bagged it.

"Greg, it wouldn't make sense to bag the manure. It would just leak through the bag. Go to the Denali and get the plastic bins out of the trunk. Put a square foot of manure into each." Grissom instructed. "Warrick, did you find anything?"

"A single broom bristle, nothing else."

"Okay, he or she swept this area." Sara pondered.

"Warrick, could you help Greg with the bins and manure?" Grissom asked with a straight face, not expecting any resistance from his CSI. Warrick just glared, shrugged, and climbed up the ladder.

"You didn't have to do that, Greg's a big boy." Sara turned to face Grissom. He mimicked her actions.

"I know. I just wanted to be alone with you." He smiled.


	3. Proceed Medium Walk

Disclaimer: i don't own csi :(  
Note: I lost my muse a little bit at this point in the story, im kind of stuck revising and editing chapters. I havn't been able to put my ideas into words. Hah, but i may post the next chapter tomorrow if i get a few more reviews

* * *

"Honey, are you sure you want to still ride?" Roger regretted his question when he received the glare Jassie gave him.

"Dad, I'm fine. I..I'm okay now. You don't have to worry." Roger nodded and looked towards the coroner's truck.

The body was being loaded. Jassie tensed as she watched the gurney go into the truck. She looked at her father to see if he noticed, he didn't. Catherine did.

"Jassie, go relax in that new trailer of yours. Nick told me all about it, I think he wants one for himself." Catherine winked at Jassie and nodded to Roger. "I'll catch up with you guys in a few."

* * *

A grin escaped from Sara's lips and spread across her whole face.

Grissom's stomach was assaulted by butterflies and he longed to wrap his arms around her. He allowed one arm to reach towards her and she took it, spun into him, and nestled into the space between his neck and shoulder. She breathed on his neck and felt him catch his breath.

Sara was smiling at his reaction, and he knew it. He didn't have to look at her to confirm it, he just closed his eyes and breathed in her sweet smell.

Heels clicking together echoed close down the hall.

Grissom groaned and lifted his head off of Sara, realizing he must have been leaning on her.

Sara took a step away and bent down to capture black marks on the cement where the body had lied minutes before. She looked up at Grissom and winked. He smiled at her then directed his attention to whom ever was about to ruin their perfect moment.

Catherine turned the corner on her heels and looked at Grissom.

"Gris?" Catherine asked.

"Yes?" He sounded annoyed.

"..You're not doing anything." Grissom glanced at Sara who was busy taking pictures, then around the scene. She was right. He was just standing there and could imagine the flustered look on his face.

"I'm deep in thought."

_C'mon Gil, you could have come up with something better than that._

He swore he heard Sara snicker.

"Right. Do you guys have this covered? I'd like to get back to the lab if everything has been collected," Catherine looked at the pile of horse manure on the ground, "Aside from the.. poop."

"Yes. Greg and Warrick were suppose to be getting bins from the Denali to collect the manure in." Grissom looked behind Catherine, "They should be back by now." He shook his head.

"Oh. I wonder how that's going?" Catherine took the Denali keys out of her pocket and waved them at Grissom.

Grissom looked at the keys and shrugged turning his back on Catherine and focusing his attention on what Sara was doing.

"_A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion_," Grissom whispered.

This time Sara caught her breath and fumbled with her camera almost dropping it. She recognized Shakespeare's words and could see the desire registering in Grissom's eyes, but somehow managed to look away and up at Catherine.

"Toss me the keys?" Sara coughed once she stood. Catherine threw Sara the keys and turned to leave the building.

Sara brushed her fingers across Grissom's lower back as she walked around him heading towards the ladder. Instantly he froze, but missed her touch when she was out of his reach.

"I'm going to go check on what Greg and Warrick are up to." Once up the ladder, and walking down the hall almost to the point where should would have to turn to head outside, Sara slipped a quick glance over her shoulder at Grissom and headed outside.

Grissom sighed and spoke aloud to himself. "_An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth_."

* * *

Sara found Greg and Warrick in the trailer hanging out with Jassie. She could hear the laughter coming from inside the trailer from 100 yards away.

_Of course, inside the luxurious trailer._

"Hey Jassie," Sara waved at her from the door. "Greg, Warrick, I think we have to get back to work, what ever happened to those bins you were getting?"

"It was locked." You could tell Greg must have been laughing very hard because his face was still flushed pink around his cheeks.

Sara dangled the keys in front of his face. "C'mon men, you have manure to box." Warrick grinned and Greg smiled. They all said their good-byes to Jassie and headed towards the Denali.

"Good kid." Warrick pointed towards the trailer.

Greg and Sara nodded in agreement.

Halfway to the Denali, Nick caught up to them and filled them in on what he had found.

"We have a possible identification on the victim. A missing child report was just sent in to the registry and Brass called it in. White female, fifteen years old, brown hair, blue eyes, fits our description. I'm off to find the parents now to get their statements and see if they have a photo."

"Mind if I come, Nick?" Warrick asked in hopes he wouldn't have to box manure.

"Yeah, no problem." Nick waved Warrick to follow him.

"I guess it's just you and me." Greg grinned at Sara and playfully nudged her shoulder with his fist. Sara laughed and nudged him back no, more like punched him back and he laughed at her reaction.

When she looked away to open the Denali hatch, he rubbed his arm and winced a little.

_Ouch, she got me good. Although I do like it rough._

Greg grinned at his clever thought. He liked the relationship he had with Sara. He loved playing the role of the boy who crushed on the bosses girlfriend. Long, long, long ago he realized he would never have a chance with her, he chuckled to himself thinking of how he was the first to recognize the attraction between the two.

* * *

i know, this chapter sucked. don't be too mean :p


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